Finding happiness in running and sobriety

Do the right thing

I’m doing everything “right”. Waking up and running, walking the dog, actively looking for a job, going out to paddle board with new friends, then coming home and sleeping. Not wanting to get up. Not eating. Wait, that’s not doing everything right? What am I doing wrong? It’s day 6 and shouldn’t life be all unicorns and rainbows? Where’s my fucking unicorns and rainbows?

Okay, I know it’s not really that easy but the whole pity party I’m having for myself is getting old. I’ve been researching the whole building a sobriety toolkit and thinking about what I would have in mine.

My Toolbox

Yoga

Running

Meditation

SUP

Reading

Kombucha

Swimming

Sauna (how do I get one in a toolbox?)

Photography

Bullet Journal

This is my baby step list. All stuff I love to have/do/experience, but I am feeling like I want something more tangible. I want a toolbox. A real one. I want an emergency box in my bag or car or something filled with goodness. Or rather, filled with things that make me smile. Maybe a book filled with mantras or inspiration. A timer reminding me to sit down and meditate. Stop. Drop. and Breathe for 5 minutes. A Holga filled with black and white 120 film, that I can develop at home, ready to make an image of something happening right now. A sweet treat (but not chocolate. I live in Arizona and have learned the chocolate lesson).

Random ducks who were checking out my board.

Okay, this makes me feel better. I have a mission to build my real life SoberBox ready for a mental breakdown emergency. I know, that’s a little on the dramatic side, but I never promised I wouldn’t be a little dramatic in this process.

I leave you with images from Watson Lake in Prescott, Arizona. Fun Fact about Prescott which I’ll share from their Wikipedia page.

In recent years, Prescott has become a recovery destination for uncounted thousands. At any given time, some 1,200 people are actively in addiction recovery in Prescott. Prescott is among the nation’s top locations for recovery help and a significant industry has grown up around the effort to help folks make an addiction-free life for themselves. Prescott is home to many recovery and rehab centers,[28] a newly minted detoxification clinic and an amorphous community of dozens of halfway houses and sober living homes. There are more than 150 group homes providing housing for those in recovery programs.[29] Current studies show Prescott as having 7.3 counselors per 10,000 people earning the unofficial title of Arizona’s Recovery City.[30]

It’s a pretty location to get sober. Although, I lost count of all the bars located in their town square.